KATHMANDU, Feb 17: Kathmandu’s traffic police have geared up their efforts to enforce traffic rules on city streets.
If data gleaned by the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) in Ramshahpath is anything to go by, the number of vehicle owners facing charges over traffic rule violation has been on the rise over recent months.[break]
According to the MTPD Ramshahpath, a total of 31,279 vehicle owners faced action over offenses committed between mid-January and mid-February. The number of those facing action during the previous month stands at 23,430.
This provides a stark contrast with the fact that traffic personnel took little action against violators in the months succeeding Janaandolan II in April, 2006.
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Traffic officials say their morale was boosted after Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam directed police to become tougher with regards to their professional duty after assuming his portfolio in August.
Typical traffic rule violations include haphazard parking, crossing the road during red light signals, violating other traffic signals, running vehicles without a road permit, drink-driving, and failure to produce blue books and other documents. Drivers using mobile phones while driving and creating vehicular movement obstruction are other violations facing the ire of traffic police.
Traffic Police Inspector Deepak Giri, chief of the Court Case Section at the MTPD Ramshahpath, reiterated that the number of people facing action is on the rise.
“More numbers of action against traffic rule violators mean stricter enforcement of traffic rules on the streets,” he said. “We hope this would ensure effective implementation of traffic rules on the streets.”
Acting alone, traffic police can place fines up to Rs 200, while cases of traffic violations exceeding this are forwarded to the Transport Management Office for action.
According to the data, traffic police have taken action against 14,771 vehicle owners over issues related to driving licenses, 10,861 over blue books, and 5,647 for operating public transport services without acquiring or renewing their road permits during mid-January to mid-February.
Likewise, the MTPD Ramshahapath took action against 10,745 over driving licenses, 8,548 over blue books, and 4,137 for those failing to acquire or renew their road permits during the previous month.
Data showed the number of those facing traffic actions in Koteshwar and Kalimati is highest compared with other areas in the Valley.
Traffic personnel had almost given up taking action against traffic rule violators for several months after the success of Janaandolan II, as the officers would be targeted by drivers and their helpers while enforcing the rules. This further deteriorated traffic movement in Kathmandu’s streets.
Apart from taking action against violators during regular trafficking, traffic police have also begun to conduct surprise checks on an almost daily basis in different sections when the pressure of vehicles is low on the road, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Indra Neupane, chief of the MTPD Ramshahapath.
Officials said they have started taking action against traffic rule violators with the help of police CRVs stationed at different major intersections of the road. “The instances of making physical assaults against traffic personnel have also stopped after we initiated action on public offense cases against a few such persons,” added Neupane.
